


Still Have A Lot to Learn

by AnonEhouse



Series: Tiny Tony 'verse [12]
Category: Iron Man (Comic), Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Daddy Issues, Gen, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-25
Updated: 2012-03-25
Packaged: 2017-11-02 12:51:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/369164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonEhouse/pseuds/AnonEhouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony is fifteen. Tony is bored. Tony is going to be better, really he is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Still Have A Lot to Learn

(If you are reading this on any PAY site this is a STOLEN WORK, the author has NOT Given Permission for it to be here. If you're paying to read it, you're being cheated too because you can read it on Archiveofourown for FREE.)

The thing is, Tony knew when he did it that it was a mistake, but he couldn't not do it. He had all the details worked out in his plan to escape the school and he knew it would work, and he just refused to think beyond that to the end result. He's thought it over many times, and he knows he'd do it again, no matter how stupid it was.

Sometimes Tony doesn't like his brain very much, but then he looks around him, and he can't understand how other people think, how they put up with plodding along, following a linear thought, patiently memorizing other people's knowledge and then working out their own tiny bit to add to it. It's just... Tony _sees_ X, Y, and Z so clearly that it covers up everything that goes before. So he misses out on the ramifications of the intermediate steps sometimes. But the real problem is that he kinda falls in love with his ideas and ignores what will happen once they're realized.

He knew, intellectually, that Dad wouldn't be pleased to see him step off the black helicopter. Really, he wasn't quite kidding himself that Dad would accept him as no longer vulnerable, no longer someone who had to be packed away in a dusty, forgotten place. But he had thought Dad would yell at him and then maybe Tony would stay quiet in the basement for a few weeks until he had something to show Dad that would, maybe, just a little, impress him, and Dad would think that Tony was useful, that it wasn't so bad having him around. After a while, Dad would see that he could work with Tony, that they could do things together.

He hadn't expected Dad to look at him and say, so cold, so absolutely ice cold, "What the hell were you thinking, Tony? Now I've got to go to Washington to clean up your mess."

And then Dad had got on the helicopter and left Tony standing there on the lawn in front of the mansion, with the helicopter's rotors sending dust into his eyes, making them sting, making his throat so dry it hurt.

And things hadn't got any better in the year that followed. He was very careful not to cause trouble. Rhodey came over sometimes and that was good, but Tony didn't want to go to Rhodey's house because if he took the bodyguards it was weird, and if he didn't take them Dad made him call Jarvis every hour to prove he hadn't been kidnapped or blown anything up. Mom asked a few times if he wanted to do things, go places with her, and Tony tried, but it was uncomfortable, too. It always felt like people were watching him, thinking "That's Tony Stark, he's so weird his father had him locked up. Is he going to do something strange?" And really, Tony felt like it, felt like doing stupid, embarrassing things, just to get them to stop thinking about what he _might_ do. But he didn't, he was polite, and he escorted Mom like a real gentleman to the ballet and the theater and more than a few parties where he was able to slip away and sneak a few drinks. A buzz helped. Then he didn't care if he smiled too wide, or said things that weren't exactly what people wanted to hear. And then they'd come home and Mom would be unhappy when he wasn't exactly steady on his feet, but instead of saying anything to him, she'd shout at Dad and that... it was just no good, any of it, so Tony stopped going out. He really had everything he needed in his basement, anyway.

Tony is going to fix things. He's going to fix himself. He's going to be better, and Dad will start to trust him, start to rely on him, at least a little bit. He wants Tony to go to school, to learn things the way normal people do, so he's going to do that. He's decided on M.I.T. and M.I.T. is going to decide to let him start this year. They have to, he can't stand it here any longer. Tony has all the paperwork done, all the approvals for early admission stamped, sealed and notarized. He hadn't realized that the tutors Dad hired at the school were all full professors, and had kept steering him to get all the academic credits he needed for college. Now he feels a little bad about the frog he put in Ms. Templeton's desk just because he resented being forced to write down _how_ he solved equations. He doesn't feel bad about magnetizing Mr. Willoughby's desk chair so it flew across the room to attack the filing cabinet. That was too funny to regret. And judging by the recommendation Mr. Willoughby sent for Tony's M.I.T. application he doesn't hold a grudge.

Tony checks the papers one last time before sealing them in an envelope. "Jarvis?" He turns around and Jarvis is there. Really, Jarvis has better ninja-fu than a field agent.

"Yes, Master Tony?"

"Would you see that this gets mailed?"

"Of course, Master Tony. Do you have a preference for the method?"

"Something fast. Really fast. Like yesterday if possible." Tony smiles at Jarvis. "I'll miss you. And your cookies."

Jarvis smiles. "I will send some from time to time, if only to keep you from living on ramen and coffee, Master Tony." Jarvis takes the envelope and lays his hand for a moment on Tony's shoulder. "Take care of yourself, Tony."

Tony blinks rapidly for a moment, and then gives in to impulse. He hugs Jarvis hard. "I'll try."


End file.
